Today I am going back to the series called “Courage.”

 2 Samuel 23:20-21 (NLT2) “There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it.” Your defining moments will also double as your scariest decisions. But you have to face those fears (lions) and begin the process of unlearning them. God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear.

1. Unlearning is Hard. Just like a hard drive with a computer virus, our minds have infected files. Irrational fears keep us from operating the way God designed us to. Those fears must be uninstalled. As you study Jesus’ teaching you realize that learning was not His primary goal. His primary goal was unlearning. He was trying to reverse engineer religious minds which can be the toughest. Two phrases that you heard Jesus say in His Sermon on the Mount…You have heard that it was said…But I tell you. What was Jesus trying to accomplish? Uninstalling OT concepts and upgrading NT truths.

2. The Importance of Unlearning. The cripple man at the sheep gate is such a great example of unlearning. He had been crippled for thirty-eight years when Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well. This man believed there was only one way to be healed. His assumption of how he could be healed may have cost him 38 years of his life. I wonder about the assumptions we have when it comes to Jesus and healing and what that costs us. You need to see this…Jesus didn’t just set this man free physically, he set him free in his mind. Faith is unlearning senseless worries and beliefs that hold us captive. 

3. Unlearning by Downloading the Mind of Christ. We think we can win this battle by simply modifying our behavior. Few ever win this way. We win by downloading the Word of God and getting the mind of Christ. Romans 12:2 (NIV) “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” How do we unlearn false beliefs and how do we renew our minds? How do we get ourselves out of the pit with a lion that we got ourselves into? The way to upgrade our minds is to download scriptures. Philippians 2:5-9 (NKJV) “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Today let’s learn the Word of God and let’s unlearn all the junk we have received all of our lives. Praise the Lord!